Graphic Designer Cardiff, Wales
Job description
The opportunity
Cardiff Met Sport is the driving force behind the sport, physical activity, health & well-being in Wales’ Capital City. Our mission is clear – ‘to profoundly enhance the lives of our communities, making them healthier and stronger as an outcome of engaging with us. We work in partnership with a range of local, regional, and national partners to develop and manage sector-leading sports facilities including, the National Indoor Athletics Centre, Tennis Centre, and Archers Arena on our Cyncoed Campus along with several 21st Century Schools across the City. We also strategically lead the delivery of a wide variety of cutting-edge development programmes across schools, communities, clubs, workforce, and health & well-being both on our campuses and throughout Cardiff. To continue to achieve all of this, we need ‘game changers’, people with drive, passion, creativity, and flair who see hurdles rather than problems, can think differently and want to make a positive and lasting impact on people’s lives, in Wales and beyond.
A new and exciting position has recently arisen to help us achieve this vision, working within the Communications, Marketing and Student Recruitment team. Reporting to the Design Manager, the Graphic Designer will be a hands-on, creative designer with a flair for developing engaging sport material across print and digital platforms.
You’ll be working within a highly focused small team with responsibility for creating effective and attractive designs that promote Cardiff Met Sports brand across a diverse range of products, platforms and events. You will ensure that all digital and print marketing material is high quality and fit for purpose, and that visual webpage and social media content is engaging. You will work closely with the Business Development Manager and Digital Marketing Officer in Met Sport, other Graphic Designers and the wider corporate Marketing and Brand team.
This will be a busy role and represents a good chance to learn and make your mark in a fast-paced and ambitious organisation.
What you’ll do – key duties
- Working with the Design Manager, Met Sport Business Development Manager and other stakeholders to bring creative ideas to life through high quality design and original illustration.
- Taking design briefs for print, web and email collateral and creating effective and engaging designs within brand guidelines and to UX standards.
- Collaborate with communications and digital departments to ensure synergy between all parties. Create master calendars for monthly and yearly graphics plan.
- Assist with the development, implementation, and management of the department’s digital brand, ensuring all digital elements have a consistent look and feel, from visual imagery to content tone and cadence.
- Deliver work to the specifications and schedules, executing the graphic communication plan set by the Design Manager and agreed with the Met Sport Business Development Manager.
- Support students from differing Sports by training and overseeing those students delivering social content.
- Utilise a variety of equipment and software to design, create, and alter media images. Uses advanced knowledge of design principles to select typefaces, layouts, and other related aesthetics in publications and materials.
- Design high-quality professional artwork, source detailed print quotes and manage print production for marketing and policy material following Cardiff Met Procurement protocol.
- Engage and use the Design Team’s dedicated digital project management system for all projects, with time tracking.
- Organise and post media of various formats and distribute across all media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube).
- Liaising with stakeholders over requirements, deadlines, and dependencies.
- Creating from scratch responsive, dynamic, and engaging content to help achieve service outcomes.
What you’ll bring – essential experience & strengths
- Proven portfolio of recent commercial/graphic and web design experience.
- Previous work experience in a marketing/ communications environment of at least four years.
- Demonstrable professional experience of print production processes and finishing types.
- Experience of designing bi-lingual material, with understanding of Welsh language application.
- Experience at optimising graphics for web design with knowledge of HTML ASP and Javascript/e marketing/HTML emails.
- An excellent working knowledge of software packages including, Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Acrobat and Quark.
- Understanding of the use of appropriate imagery/illustration and associated copyright issues.
- Excellent understanding of Mac OS.
- Demonstrable experience of developing a design concept from start to finish with strong ideas, to meet the requirements of a brief within a required timeline, preferably within a sport and physical activity environment.
- Educated to degree level or equivalent relevant experience
Why join Cardiff Metropolitan University?
In 2020, the University was named The Sunday Times ‘Welsh University of the Year 2021’; in 2021 it became the Times Higher Education ‘UK and Ireland University of the Year 2022’; and in 2022 it was ranked the top university in the UK in the People and Planet Green League.
In addition, the University offers highly competitive terms and conditions including:
- Annual leave of 25 days, rising to 30 days after 1 years’ service, plus 12 bank holiday / concessionary days (pro rata if part time).
- Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme with generous contributions.
- Flexible and remote working opportunities.
- Excellent family friendly policies.
- Award winning sports and fitness facilities with subsidised membership, plus subsidised physiotherapy/complementary therapy/sports massage.
- Access to all library facilities.
- Salary sacrifice schemes including cycle to work.
- Free family access to our independent specialist wellbeing support provider, Health Assured.
If you would like to talk with us about this opportunity please contact Sarah Garwood, Corporate Design Manager on [email protected].
Should a high volume of applications be received, we may need to close this vacancy early. We therefore encourage you to apply as early as possible.
The University is committed to creating a highly inclusive culture. We offer family friendly and flexible working arrangements and a range of staff networks, forums and events to support and develop our people. We warmly welcome applications from those traditionally underrepresented in the higher education sector.
Further information
Please read our Candidate Pack or visit our staff recruitment website for information about working for us, our culture, benefits, work-life balance and our career progression and development opportunities.
